...Pansies (post 1)...

Last year I harvested the seeds of my pansies, and now I am determined to try and propagate them. 

Of course if my experiment is successful, my pansies won't flower before Autumn this year, if that. Most likely, they will bloom in Spring 2015. Never mind. I do have many beautiful pansies to keep me going until then. 

So, what I have done is fill my homemade 'trays' with compost, add the seeds, lightly cover them with compost, water the compost and seeds, cover the 'trays' with a dark plastic bag so that humidity is maintained, and place them in a cold, very dark place (under the stairs). Now... let's see if this works. 

I am going to check them in 7 days time, and give you an update next Monday. In theory, they take 7-14 days to germinate. 

'Cross' your fingers for them!

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Tip: pansies most likely don't grow from cuttings (tested by myself without any success so far).

If you have grown pansies from cuttings, please contact me, tell me how this is done and I will deify you! :-)

Pansies do grow from division though. OK, I may give division a try at some point.

...A woman with a beard...

I recall a phrase from a favourite book of mine: 'Middlesex', by Jeffrey Eugenides. I read this book 7 years ago - and I found it fascinating. On page 1 (I think) he writes:

Beauty is sometimes freakish.  

Was I a 'girly' girl when I was young? Not really. Apart from the fact that I never played with dolls, I always preferred playing with boys' toys: cars, fire-brigades, spaceships, you call it...

I did have the encouragement of my family - i.e. to behave in a girly manner. 

When I was 11 a family friend took a picture of my face. Frankly, I did not like what I saw in this picture. My face was fat (I was overweight as a teenager), the hat looked silly on me. I certainly felt that the picture was not complete. I took a black marker and I drew a moustache and a beard. 

My mother saw it and she nearly had a heart attack. She was all about taking me to see a psychologist, but she never did. In the following days, after the 'talk' I 'changed' a little bit. I was good at pretending I was girly in my teens, possibly because that was my only way to make and maintain some friends. 

When I was 15, I started noticing some facial hair growing on my chin. I was bullied at school. I told my mum, who suddenly decided to see the elephant in the room and took me to see a specialist, a doctor. I also started hair-removal treatments, for which my family spent a little fortune.

What was discovered was: a) PCOS, b) malfunction of suprarenal glands. My hormones were all over the place. Too many androgens. Aha! That possibly explained why I was too manly. 

I took loads of medicines when I was a teenager. Medicins to alter my hormone levels. I had numerous tests in hospitals too. I was in and out of hospital.

The doctor's words were straight forward:

You should try and get pregnant early in life, if possible, as the older you get, the more you risk infertility problems. 

I NEVER EVER EVER took this issue seriously, to my family's surprise. There is something telling me that I knew, back then, that a child in my life would mean nothing to me anyway. 

I started feeling very manly in my early 30s. I decided that I liked men, but I do have an extremely manly everyday life. A manly profession, manly manners, everything manly! It looks like my attitude is that of a young man. 

And there is something weird there, don't blame paranornal but I feel that I have the 'soul' of a man, trapped inside a woman's body. Yes. This is how I define myself: a woman with a beard. A woman with a man's 'soul'.

In everyday life I play 'woman'. I rarely wear makeup, but I do make an efford to appear womanly. I wear ladies clothes, although I do have some preferences for the clothes I wear (subject of a future post). But people who really know me, love me for who I am. They don't ask me to change. These are the people I value most in life.

...Marigolds...

Now it is time to start your marigolds from seed (African marigolds are the easiest to grow in my opinion).

Start the seeds inside, in trays, as marigold sprouts are often eaten by slugs if you sow them straight in the garden.

Wait for the sprouts to be about 4 cm tall before you transfer them outside. When sprouts mature, slugs leave them alone.

Their wonderful orange / yellow flowers stay bloomed all summer long in the UK (down to Halloween, in Southern England).

They do not require much care. Water them a little if the weather gets very dry, otherwise the lovely rainy British summer will do the trick. 

Did you know that magpies hate the smell of marigolds? If you feed garden birds and a naughty magpie eats all the bird food that your blackbirds are entitled to, place some marigolds next to the feeder... Job done!

They are also ideal for hanging baskets.

...Mother's day and the childfree...

With mother's day fast approaching, there are several women out there who do not celebrate this day. 

• How do infertile women feel on the day?
• How do happily childfree women celebrate? 

I am not entirely sure about the answer to the first question; all I know is that if a woman is infertile and wants to have children but she can't, she may be emotionally unstable on the day. 

If I wanted to have children (hypothetically speaking) but I couldn't have them, I would feel vulnerable and frustrated on the day. 

You see, even though I am childfree, I sympathise with many women who are parents or want to get into parenthood. Who am I to judge parents and future parents after all? They do whatever they want in life. I do whatever I want in life. Period!

So, do I celebrate the day? I do, and I don't. 

I do celebrate my mum of course (I love you mum!), but I do not celebrate as such as I am not a mum. Do I feel left out? 

Maybe. 

The childfree (men and women) have their own international day, but very few people know about this celebration (it is on the 1st of August). I celebrate this day together with like-minded friends. We even exchange cards and presents! 

But somehow I feel that in a child-focused world, it's all about the mother. It's all about motherhood and mother's day, whereas both days should be celebrated equally; something that is not happening at the moment. 

So, when mother's day comes this year, think of the women who cannot have children. Take a moment and think of them. 

Also, take another moment to think and respect the childfree and their decision not to procreate. After all... 

motherhood is an option, not a social obligation

Sixpence None The Richer - Kiss Me (Official HQ)

Nostalgia. I associate this music video with my teen years. This song makes me feel positive, full of hope for the future. 



Your favourite song too? 

...Black polka dot prom dresses for the curvy ladies...

Polka dot, why not?

Polka dot. Not for size 6 models but for the average lovely lady out there, who loves her curves!

Some of my favourite polka dot dresses out there.

From here. Look at that! Just lovely, and very Kate style, don't you think? I also love the shoes!

From here. Pinup to impress!

Similar, but with a cheesy neckline. Dress is from here.

From here. What a fabulous dress!

Did you notice the high-heels in reds and yellows?They look great with these dresses.

...Swimming and yoga, 2 in 1...

Are there any swimmers out there, reading my blog? 

How is your breathing? 

Do you feel out of breath after a few lengths? 

Try yoga breathing just before your swimming routine, and in between your lengths.

Your swimming will be smooth, you will feel less tired and you will swim faster.

Tested and recommended.

NB: If you feel out of breath and get very tired during your swimming, your iron levels may be a bit low.  

Have yourself checked. Swimming is not for everyone. Talk to your doctor first. 

Foodie Penpals

What are Foodie Penpals? Believe it or not, I only discovered Foodie Penpals last week, on the Lean Green Bean blog, but I am so excited about this project! Not only because I love food (who doesn't!) but because this project is a wonderful idea, connecting people from all over the world! I joined straight away.

How it works

I am looking forward to getting in touch with my first Foodie Penpal in April. I am already making plans about what to include in my parcel.

...Review of 'The Wolf of Wall Street' film (2013)...

The film has received reasonable ratings on the IMDb database of films. The plot is based on the biography of Jordan Belfort, who became rich (almost) overnight... after successfully setting up his own business and 'smashing' other well-established firms in the stock-market. The combination of money, crime, drugs and sex is a best-seller in American films, and 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is not an exemption to this rule. 

Though, the way I see it, this film had too much of it: superfluous money, too many drugs, too much sex, and too much crime! There he is, DiCaprio playing Belfort doing drugs 15 minutes after the film has started; and again, and again, and again, throughout the film. I got sick of watching DiCaprio doing drugs and having sex! Also, allow me to say that the word 'f**k' was overused in the film. It was in every dialogue! Martin Scorsese, you should re-sit your English exam!

You may have realised that I am not a DiCaprio fan; well, that's somehow true. I like his style but his 'great acting' is exaggerated. One can actually tell that he is not that great. When he acts, his facial expressions are rather pretentious, the way he moves is a bit clumsy.

Although it needs to be acknowledged that his acting in the Wolf of Wall Street was much better compared to his acting in the Titanic. Yet, something is telling me that the Wolf of Wall Street film wasn't for him. 

Need I say that I do not recommend you to watch this film with your kids? Just a no-no. IMDb introduces it as a comedy. HOW? Not a single line made me laugh. 

Chocolate yoghurt mousse

While I figure out how blogger works, I am sharing a recipe idea with you... for a very chocolaty but low calorie dessert...The ultimate, healthy treat for those watching their weight. 



All you need to do is mix 1 tablespoon of pure cocoa powder (preferably sugarless and organic) with 6 tablespoons of natural low fat Greek yoghurt. Mix them well.

Add a bit of sugar substitute if you have a sweet tooth, but in my opinion, this is not necessary. 

Now, for the funky bit...

Break some meringue and add it on top. The average meringue cookie or mini meringue nest has about 60-80 calories. Or, if you prefer, add some fresh banana slices or cherries on top.

As a result, your dessert will be lower in calories than the typical chocolate mousse dessert. See? No-regret-desserts!

I often make this dessert for breakfast. It will reduce your chocolate cravings too (confirmed)!

Optional: add peanut butter or powdered cinnamon to the mix. 

My first post

So, what should I write about? My latest gardening news would make a nice first post.

• My peas are growing fast (I planted the 'meteor peas' variety in late October last year).  
• my marigolds are growing - stay away slug! 
• I have tried to grow roses from cuttings (time will tell if the experiment is successful).  
• my forget-me-nots are about to flower. 
• my azalea is looking healthy.

I am going to post about these gardening activities soon. 

For now, I am trying to learn how blogger works. I have never used blogger before but one has to start from somewhere I suppose. Advanced apologies for any mistakes I make. Do visit this blog in the future as I will try to update it every 10 days or so... 

Happy reading!